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Oh, happy day.

We said a sad goodbye to Alyssa this morning as she headed back to school, but we will see her in a month!

Today was a lovely mix of lazy moments and busy times. Here are some thankfuls:

1. Sleeping. After an early morning (3:45am) and quick jaunt to the airport and the obligatory stop by our ever growing house-to-be, we came back and slept for a few hours to catch up on the sleep we lost earlier.

2. Dark chocolate, Rainier cherry, Praline bar. I was crazy to not like chocolate in my earlier years. I am now quite in love with the substance. Particularly dark chocolate. If you ever want to wiggle into my heart, there are 4 ways: coffee, chocolate, cheese, and wine. Try it some time. Ryan has learned quickly that a sample of cheese or dark chocolate bar can quickly cheer me up. Also, only Ryan knows my hiding spot for my chocolate - I will never tell you.

3. Walking along the river. A nice long walk along the river this evening involved some photographs (I'm still trying to get good at this), bats, a sunset, breezes through poplars, holding hands, and dreaming. It ended with some live music (albeit, that of teenagers with rocky skills) outside Redmond city hall. What a nice evening. I am never as happy as when I am outside and moving about.

4. Blue heron. We saw an eagle, some bats, Canadian geese, robins, and my favorite, the blue heron, sleeping high up in a tree. It's long beak in a stark silhouette against the pink sunset.

5. Deciding to find beauty and happiness today.

All in all, it was a great day.

xo, Meg